Steve,
IMO,
If your tub’s WASTE AND OVERFLOW has a “trip” lever then indeed there should have been at the least a cyliner attached to it. If you unscrewed 2 screws and pulled out a danging rod only then I would surmise that the plunger has disconnected from the trip waste linkage thus causing your “some” of your issues. Steve if the Waste and Overflow assembly is greater than 20 years old I would NOT attaempt any band aid repairs or attempts, just replace this assembly AND ITS ASSOCIATED P-TRAP Steve.
Steve, a waste and overflow, takes a real plumber to install correct. I have made THOUSANDS of dollars repair these items. A W/O is very difficult to install correctly and when complete one should be able to fill the tub to OVER THE OVER FLOW and still have no leaks ANYWHERE therein.
Steve I always recommend replacing the associated P-Trap w/ the W/O for they used to be installed w/ a very tight pattern’d / radius’d p-trap and the new designs are muuch more “snake” freindly. Old style is difficult AT BEST to cable. Remember to rod out the horizontal pipe extension from the sanitay tee as well! ALWAYS look GOOD inside old drain pipes when you open them and CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN / or replace them, they do NOT last forever.

Hi Barbara,
There are many different designs of tub drains, each with different ways to remove them, so it’s hard to say without looking at it. You might want to check out the website of the company who made it to see if they have installation instructions online or look for similar models at a home center and read the instructions that come with them. Good luck with your project!

House is 1962. Typical “pink” (peach?) porcelain. After removing the overflow cover, the linkage came out with only a light tension spring (about the physical size of an automotive valve spring) on the end. The linkage and spring total was about 12″ long. I fished down there with some grabbers (18″) but there was nothing else down there. Everything is brass and in great shape for the age. Videos I have seen show a sleeve and o rings that stop the water. What am I missing here? Bathrooms back up to each other with “no access panel”.

Hi Rick,
The drain on my old tub has a similar set up, with linkage in both the overflow and stopper and only a short spring. When I took it out to clean it, I couldn’t get it back in and was convinced the spring had broken off. But after a bit of looking a similar ones online and playing with it, I managed to get the linkage back in and working.

Hi Danny,
Thanks so much for your help!!! I have had a slow drain forever and decided it couldn’t be any worse if I tried to fix it. I watched your video, and had my drain clear in 10 minutes!!! If only I’d tried earlier…I feel more unintelligent for not trying sooner! It was EASY!!!
Thank you for saving me at least 120 dollars!!!
Penny,
Ionia, MO

My tub has a external stopper. The tub won’t drain and i can’t plunge it because i can’t block the long pipe. Help! please!

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